Wings of Change (4 page)

Wings of Change

ale and even some entertainment. The Jinn were noted for the talent of their minstrels and a few played in the background while the conversations of the customers hummed around them.

Kaden drank a bit more than he probably should have, keeping vigil at Rey’s side. The other patrons moved around the tavern, most giving the dragons a wide berth, though some came over to pay their respects and offer melons or other large fruits to the dragons as snacks. Marcus joined Kaden after dinner and sat with him deep into the night. They’d always been friends and he found the other knight’s presence both comforting and reassuring.

The only serving girl brave enough, it seemed, to serve the dragons and knights was Lucia. She brought tankards of ale after clearing away the remains of Kaden’s dinner. He watched her as the night wore on. Marcus sat with him, watching and speaking little, but it was a comfortable silence.

Kaden noticed how Marcus’s gaze followed Lucy. Kaden couldn’t help but watch her himself. There was something appealing about the confidant way she moved, and she was a proven beauty—inside and out. No other woman had ever braved the castle gates to summon help for an injured dragon. Only Lucy.

“She’s quite a woman,” Marcus commented, raising his tankard in Lucia’s direction. Kaden realized he’d been caught staring at her. Again.

“I can’t figure her out.” Kaden sat back, trying to be nonchalant. “She seems comfortable in this atmosphere, but she speaks like a gentlewoman.”

“She doesn’t really belong here,” Marcus agreed. “She was born a noblewoman, but fate has brought her here.”

Marcus’s words seemed portentous. “For some reason, you think?”

“I do.” Marcus lowered the tankard. “I believe she may well be our mate.”

The idea shocked Kaden, but he felt an immediate warmth flood his midsection at the idea of bedding Lucia. A wife would be shared between them now it was clear Rey and Linea were mates. Such was the way with dragons. It was rare to find a woman who would willingly live in the Lair with dozens of dragons. Rarer still was the woman who could hear a dragon’s silent speech.

“It feels right,” Kaden admitted. “She can bespeak dragons. Even in the Castle Lair, not all the women can do that.”

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“It’s a gift,” Marcus agreed. “And it’s clear she loves Rey already. I think she’s fond of Linea too.”

“But what about us?” Kaden nearly cursed. The woman had seen him at his absolute worst. She probably despised him for the way he’d seemed to ignore Rey’s lifethreatening injury.

“Why don’t we find out?” Marcus stood, stretching and surveying the quiet tavern. It was late in the evening and most customers had already headed for home. The serving wenches were cleaning their assigned areas, but there seemed little left for them to do. He went across the room, toward the bar where Lucia was washing out tankards in a large bucket of water.

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Wings of Change

Chapter Four

Lucia was just finishing up her chores when she noticed Sir Marcus walking in her direction. The man should come with a warning label. He was so good looking, and the way he walked should be outlawed. Long limbs rolled loosely across the tavern floor and his arresting gaze held hers the entire way.

They hadn’t spoken since their run-in the day before and seemed to have achieved a somewhat uncomfortable truce. He gave her the patented Marcus melt-your-bones smile that all the other serving girls had been sighing over. It had been nearly impossible to talk to any of the other women at the tavern without being either teased or grilled for information about the knights. Of course, the girls were still frightened by the dragons. No matter how many times Lucia told them the dragons were gentle creatures, the others refused to go anywhere near them. Not even to flirt with the knights.

“Are you nearly done for the night?” Marcus’s deep voice rolled over her.

“Just about.” She wiped her hands on her apron and untied the strings holding it in place over her simple dress. “Why? Does Rey need anything? Or Linea?” She pointedly left him out of her query.

“No, they’re fine. Sleeping, actually.” He glanced over his shoulder at the dragons’

entwined necks. “I thought maybe you could sit with us—with Kaden and me—for a bit. We owe you much for coming to the castle and haven’t had much time to get to know you. We’d like to remedy that.”

Surprised and wary, Lucia couldn’t ignore the voice inside telling her to grab whatever time she could with these strong men. Such men didn’t cross her path at all in the normal course of business, unless she was serving them food or drink. But Marcus and Kaden both had treated her as an equal, not as a servant. The idea was too tantalizing to pass up. It had been so long since she’d sat at a table and shared conversation with an educated man. She missed it. And playing with fire was something she’d always done,

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regardless of her propensity for getting burned. She went around the bar and allowed Marcus to escort her to the table.

Kaden stood when she neared and pulled out a chair for her. His manners were polite and she was hard pressed to decide which of these men was more handsome. Marcus had a suave beauty to him, a grace of form and movement, but Kaden was pure power in human form. His muscles spoke of long days spent training at arms, while the cunning in his sparkling eyes betrayed keen intelligence.

“Please, Lucy, won’t you join us?” Kaden captured one of her hands, lifting it to his lips for a gentle salute.

Barely able to nod at his unexpected chivalry, she took the chair he offered, sitting lightly. If she hadn’t felt the scratchy linen of her shift against her skin, she would have thought she’d gone back in time.

The men sat after she did, both focusing their considerable attention on her. She resisted the urge to fidget. Since she’d met him, Marcus had been the focus of her thoughts, but watching Kaden interact with Reynor made her want to understand the more rough-cut knight better. He wasn’t quite as effortlessly gallant as Marcus, but had a charm all his own.

“We can’t thank you enough for looking after Rey.” Marcus poured a bit of the wine they’d ordered earlier into an empty glass and offered it to her. She accepted, taking a small sip of the fruity vintage. She’d had better, but not recently. “It was my pleasure. Sir Reynor is a sweetheart.”

Kaden laughed at that, surprising her with his change in demeanor. Since he’d been here, he’d been alternately worried, dour, sad, or remorseful. Sometimes all at once. It was good to hear his laughter. It touched her, and brought home just how strongly she felt for them all on such short acquaintance.

Of course, talking with Rey over the past days, she’d learned a great deal about his knight. She knew some of Kaden’s likes and dislikes, his moments of heroism and the reasons Rey loved him. From the dragon’s descriptions, she’d felt she already knew the most important things about Sir Kaden, but meeting him now, she could see there were still depths to his personality to explore and try to understand. And Marcus’s warnings of the way they would make love to her tantalized her imagination. She couldn’t help the vivid images in her mind as she sat between them, doing her best to keep the betraying heat from her face.

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“Were he awake I’m sure Rey would scoff to hear himself described as sweet. He’s a fierce dragon, don’t you know? You can’t call a fire breathing beast
sweet
. It would ruin his image.” Kaden’s teasing seemed a good sign for the recovery of both dragon and knight.

Lucia chuckled, answering with the same lighthearted air, glad of the distraction from her scandalous thoughts. “Reynor has a heart of gold and he knows I think he’s sweet, though like you, he scoffs when I say it.”

“How is it you can hear dragons, Lucy?” Marcus asked. “It’s not a common ability.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve always been able to communicate with magical creatures. I grew up in a distant land and we had many different kinds of magic there.”

“‘Lucia de Alagarithia, last of your line, late of the Jinn’. That’s how you introduced yourself to Linea,” Marcus said with deceptive casualness. “Perhaps you’ll enlighten us. Where is Alagarithia?”

Lucia sighed, remembering days long gone. “Alagarithia is a coastal city in the Doge of Helios’s domain. I grew up there, a child of the House of Alagar, ruling line of the city.”

“What happened?” Kaden folded one of her hands in his, offering comfort.

“What usually happens when one group wants the power of another? War. And assassination. I was the only survivor, and only just barely. If I hadn’t fled the city, I’d be dead as well. For that reason, I don’t often publicize who I once was, though I doubt anyone cares to send an assassin this far, after so many years.”

“How did you escape?” Marcus leaned forward, listening intently.

“The Jinn hid me in their caravan. They adopted me when it was clear I had no home to return to. They’ve been good to me.”

“But you’ve never forgotten your origins, or your ladylike manners,” Kaden observed, squeezing her hand. “You are Jinn, but not. There’s a lot of the lady still in you, sweetheart.”

“Much to my dismay at times,” she agreed. “It makes me stand out too much from the other girls.”

“You would do that regardless.” Marcus lifted her free hand in his, tangling their fingers. It felt good to touch both of them, though she was confused by the emotions swirling through her. Sad thoughts of her lost home mixed with the empathy coming from these two wonderful men. “But what magical creatures did you talk to in Helios?

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I’m not familiar with your city at all, and I’ve only heard bards’ tales of that land. Surely no dragons live there.”

“No, no dragons. But there are several kinds of magical sea creatures, and gryphons nested along our cliffs. I used to play with the hatchlings when the adults would let me. They were so soft and fluffy, and while still babies, they couldn’t talk yet with their beaks. It takes time for them to learn that skill, so they spoke in my mind, much like the dragons.”

“I’ve never seen a gryphon, but they’re said to be deadly and incredibly powerful creatures.” Kaden’s grip tightened on her hand.

“They are both, but if you know how to approach them from a position of strength, they will sometimes accept you. My father taught me how to gain their respect and a few of the mated pairs allowed me to play with their young. I was just a child then myself, of course.”

“So your playmates were baby gryphons?” Marcus looked impressed. “No wonder you’re such a formidable woman.”

“Me?” She laughed outright. “I’m hardly formidable. I’m only a serving wench after all.”

Kaden tugged her closer to his warm body. “You are so much more, Lucy. More than you realize.”

His lips settled on hers with delicate urgency, testing first to see if she would accept his kiss. Giving in to her own deepest desires, she settled into the kiss, cataloging every touch, every caress, every sweep of his daring tongue, against the moment when she would wake from this dream.

All too soon, he released her, though he didn’t let her go far. One strong hand continued to hold hers, while the other settled at her waist. She could feel the heat of his fingers through her thin dress. It did something to her insides, making her belly quiver in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It felt like magic, only different.

“You taste sweeter than I would have dreamed, Lucy. I’m so glad Rey found you.”

The intensity in his eyes was hard to answer. She realized Marcus still held her other hand, and she looked at him with shocked eyes, but he was smiling.

“My impetuous friend may be rushing things, but I’m inclined to do the same. It’s hard to hold back when heaven might be right before your eyes.” Marcus sounded almost philosophical, but his tone was deep and mysterious, his eyes dancing with lights of 28

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pleasure as he leaned closer. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers. Again. When she’d promised herself she wouldn’t let it happen. She gave up thinking as his tongue swept in as if it owned her, taking up where Kaden left off and driving her higher still. The two men together were a potent combination. Was it shameful of her to accept another man’s kiss so soon after learning the taste of Kaden? Was it wrong to enjoy them both? Her head was spinning. An amused female voice sounded through her mind. “
Is it really so hard to
understand, little sister? You could be the mate of this family. You could be the tie that
binds us all together.”

Marcus ended the kiss, his gaze seeking hers as he drew back. “Don’t let her frighten you off. Linea,” he addressed the watchful dragon with a glance, “don’t pressure her.”

The female dragon snorted delicately, a spiral of smoke heading for the high ceiling.

“
The girl needs to understand she can have you both.”

The thought tantalized as she looked from one knight to the other. Both of these incredible men were looking at her as a potential mate. The idea was staggering, though her conversations with Marcus should have prepared her for it. Kaden stroked one finger along her hip. “It’s a rare woman that can hear dragon speech. You like Rey and Linea, don’t you?”

She nodded, still being cautious. “Yes, but—”

“And you don’t hold disgust for either one of us.” Marcus’s eyes twinkled as he teased her. “Do you?”

“No, but—”

“Then there’s no reason for us not to see where this might lead,” Kaden said in a determined voice.

“No pressure though,” Marcus assured her, as if reminding them all. “We like you a great deal, Lucia. You’ve already proven your care for our dragon partners and they love you for it. I think the Mother of All put you in our path for a reason, and I don’t want to frighten you, but knights often know immediately when they meet the right woman.” His eyes sought out Kaden’s over her head. He took a deep breath, as if for courage, then went on. “I felt something when I first saw you, but the danger to Rey and the revelation that Linea was his mate had my head spinning. But it feels right to have you here, with us. I think you were meant for us, Lucia. I think I could spend the rest of my life loving you.”